Maori may need to cut back their traditional harvests of muttonbirds because climate change is leading to the birds starving in large numbers, says a bird rescue official.
Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre manager Robert Webb said young sooty shearwaters, or muttonbirds, were dying along New Zealand coasts before they left on their migration to the northern Pacific.
"The dead and dying birds being washed up along our coasts are only the tip of the iceberg," he said.
"Many more will be dying out at sea, because it appears they have had insufficient food to build up fat for the migration."
Dawn Morton, of Wanganui Bird Rescue, said she had been receiving abnormal numbers of the birds. All five brought to her last week had died.
Rosalie Goldsworthy, who helps with bird rescues from Days Bay in Wellington, said 20 shearwaters had been picked up in Wellington harbour.
The rescue group was getting up to 20 shearwaters a day, most of them weighing 300g to 400g, when they should weigh 800g at the start of migration.
- NZPA
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